WESTERN AUSTRALIAN AASTRONOMSTRONOMYY ALMANACALMANAC FREEINCLUDES CD TheThe reallyreally usefuluseful guideguide toto thethe wonderswonders ofof thethe nightnight skysky Highlights: January 24 Lunar Occultation of Regulus February 1 Venus in conjunction with Jupiter February 2 Lunar Occultation of Antares March Venus close to Mercury April 23 Lunar Occultation of Antares July 11 Mars in conjunction with Saturn July 14 Lunar Occultation of Antares August 13 Venus in conjunction with Saturn August 17 Partial lunar eclipse September Mercury, Venus and Mars close in evening twilight October 4 Lunar Occultation of Antares December 1 Venus in conjunction with Jupiter December 29 Lunar Occultation of Jupiter December 31 Mercury in conjunction with Jupiter 20082008 2008 JANUARY 2008 FEBRUARY 2008 MARCH 2008 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 12345 12 30 31 1 6 7 8 9101112 3456789 2345678 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 9101112131415 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 APRIL 2008 MAY 2008 JUNE 2008 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 12345 123 1234567 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 45678910 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 27 28 29 30 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 JULY 2008 AUGUST 2008 SEPTEMBER 2008 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 12345 31 1 2 123456 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3456789 7 8 910111213 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30 OCTOBER 2008 NOVEMBER 2008 DECEMBER 2008 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1234 30 1 123456 567891011 2345678 7 8 910111213 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9101112131415 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 28 29 30 31 New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter WESTERN AUSTRALIAN AASTRONOMSTRONOMYY ALMANACALMANAC 2008CONTENTS Introduction 3 Getting Started 4 How To Use This Almanac 6 January 8 February 12 March 16 April 20 May 24 June 28 July 32 August 36 September 40 October 44 November 48 December 52 Special Events – Eclipses & Occultations 56 Solar System Information 60 Stars & Non-Stellar Objects 93 Background & General Information 97 Western Australian Places of Astronomical Interest 120 © Perth Observatory 2007 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealings for purposes of private study, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be made to the publishers. ISBN 9780958196376 Published in November 2007 by: Perth Observatory, 337 Walnut Rd, Bickley 6076, Western Australia Phone: (08) 9293 8255 Fax: (08) 9293 8138 Website: www.perthobservatory.wa.gov.au Email: [email protected] Western Australian Astronomy Almanac 2008 may be purchased directly from Perth Observatory, Phone (08) 9293 8255, or from all good booksellers. Disclaimer: Perth Observatory has gone to a great deal of effort to ensure that all the details in this almanac are correct. However, the Perth Observatory cannot be held responsible for any eventuality arising out of the use of the data herein. It is advisable to contact Perth Observatory directly with your astronomical data requirements in order to maximise their quality. Please note that charges apply for such consultancies. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Perth Observatory staff for proof reading and input, Peter Pieloor of Ali B Design for all the graphic design work, and the taxpayers of Western Australia who have supported Perth Observatory for over a century. Information for this almanac was adapted from the following sources: ‘Astronomical Almanac for the Year 2008, US Naval Observatory/H.M. Nautical Almanac Office, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. ‘Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets’, 2nd ed., 1995, by Jean Meeus, Willmann-Bell Inc. ‘Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium’, National Research Council USA, National Academy Press. ‘The Cambridge Guide to the Constellations’, 1995, by Michael E Bakich, Cambridge University Press. ‘Eclipse! The What, Where, When, Why and How Guide to Watching Solar and Lunar Eclipses’, 1997, by Philip Harrington, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ‘Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac’, 1992, ed. by P. K. Seidelmann, University Science Books, Mill Valley, California, USA. ‘Frequently Asked Questions About Calendars’, 2005, Claus Tondering, http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html ‘Mathematical Astronomy Morsels’, 1997, by Jean Meeus, Willmann-Bell Inc. ‘More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels’, 2002, by Jean Meeus, Willmann-Bell Inc. ‘The Southern Sky Guide’, 1993, by David Ellyard & Wil Tirion, Cambridge University Press. ‘Total Eclipses: Science, Observations, Myths and Legends’, 1999, by Pierre Guillermier and Serge Koutchmy, Springer – Praxis Series in Astronomy. Heavens Above website http://www.heavens above.com ICQ/CBAT/MPC World Wide Web pages http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/ International Meteor Organization http://www.imo.net/ JPL Solar Systems Dynamics Group http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/ NASA National Space Science Data Center http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary Resolutions 5 and 6 adopted at IAU XXVIth General Assembly in Prague, on August 24, 2006. http://www.iau.org/Resolutions_at_GA-XXVI.340.0.html SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/sim-fid.pl Sky and Telescope magazine http://skyandtelescope.com/ United States Naval Observatory http://www.usno.navy.mil US Geological Survey Planetary Nomenclature http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/ ICE version 0.51, US Naval Observatory, Nautical Almanac Office Sky Charts – Cartes du Ciel version 3 beta 0.1.2 by Patrick Chevalley Starry Night Pro, version 5.0.2, Sienna Software Inc. Front Cover: Hubble Space Telescope image of bright blue, newly formed stars that are blowing a cavity in the centre of a star-forming region in our galactic neighbour - the Small Magellanic Cloud – located about 200,000 light-years from the Solar System. Near the centre of the star-forming region, lies star cluster NGC 602. The high-energy radiation blazing out from the hot young stars is sculpting the inner edge of the outer portions of the nebula, slowly eroding it away and eating into the material beyond. The diffuse outer reaches of the nebula prevent the energetic outflows from streaming away from the cluster. Ridges of dust and gaseous filaments are seen towards the northwest (in the upper-left part of the image) and towards the southeast (in the lower right-hand corner). Elephant trunk-like dust pillars point towards the hot blue stars and are tell-tale signs of their eroding effect. In this region it is possible to trace how the star formation started at the centre of the cluster and propagated outward, with the youngest stars still forming today along the dust ridges. The width of the star forming region is about 200 light-years. Acknowledgement: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) - ESA/Hubble Collaboration 2 INTRODUCTION Astronomy was once again prominent in the public arena in 2007 after the imposition of daylight saving in late 2006. Daylight saving exploits the fact that the Sun rises earlier and sets later than average during the months around, and during, the height of summer. A very long afternoon can be created if civil time is advanced by one hour (day light saving time) during these months. However, this is only part of the story. A given time, such as noon – the time when the Sun is highest in the sky, is a local phenomenon and it is entirely impractical for each community to conduct their activities based on local time. As a consequence, the world is divided into time zones with each zone being (usually) one hour different to the one adjacent. Naturally, common sense comes into play and the boundaries for each zone are usually defined by state or regional boundaries in order minimise problems and maximise co-ordination of activities for people living in given region. Western Australia spans the longitude range 113° to 129° east of the Prime Meridian at Greenwich, England. This means that noon occurs from about 8.6 to 7.5 hours ahead of Greenwich, Consequently, the time zone for all of WA is 8 hours ahead of Greenwich and local time is the same as the zone time only at longitude 120°. Given that the longitude for Perth is about 4° west of the 120th meridian means that the local noon is on average 16 minutes later than that expected for the time zone. This means that because of Perth’s location it experiences an average of 16 minutes of daylight saving all year even without the formal imposition of daylight saving.